Case for preserving whalebone



(No Model.)

B. T. TOWL-ER. CASE FOR P RESBRVING WHALEB'ONE.

Patented Oct. 14,1890.

EDIVARD T. TOIVLER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

' CASE FOR PRESERVING WHALEBONE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 438,296, dated October 14, 1890.

Application tiled July 12, 1890. $erial No. 358,491. (No model.)

whalebone when cut into strips becomes Warped and therefore unfit for use in that condition when exposed in a dry or heated atmosphere, and it has been a common practice heretofore to keep whalebone in the'baselnents of'stores, where it will not be subjected to heat or dry atmosphere, and when so kept it has of course been necessary to send to the basement forthe whalebone as sales are made. To avoid this inconvenience, I have designed a case which may be placed on a shelf or counter, and which case is provided with one or more compartments to contain the whalebone and also with one or more compartments to contain water or other liquid, and the case and partitions being made from some porous materia1such as woodthe whalebone is kept moist, and consequently retains its shape. The construction of the receptacle may be considerably varied, the only essential being to provide compartments for the whalebone in proximity to the moist body; but in the accompanying drawings I have shown my invention embodied in a receptacle having an exterior box like casing with an interior wooden block bored or grooved to provide compartments to contain the strips of whalebone and a body of water.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of the receptacle, one of the side walls being broken away, and the central compartment being formed by boring an aperture in a block of wood to contain the water, and the compartments for the whalebone being formed by grooving or channeling the exterior walls. Fig. 2 is a similar view, but with the casing entire and the central or water compartment differently constructed.

In the drawings, A represents a suitable casing, which may be of wood and forming a box having one open end, and B, Fig. 1, represents a block of wood which is bored centrally to provide the water-reservoir O. The four sides of this block are then cut or grooved to form rectangular compartment D to receive the whalebones (Z, which are preferably set on end and packed closely together, the compartments being separated by the uncut portions of the block B. The water-compartment bein g filled, the liquid penetrates the Walls of its compartment and the partitions between the compartments to receive the strips of Whalebone, thus surrounding said compartments with a moist medium which prevents the warping of the strips of whalebone.

In the construction shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings the block B is divided into the sections B B one of't-he sides of each of the blocks being deeply cut to form the compartmentslto receive the whalebone, and then Vertical partition-strips E are secured between the uncut sides of the blocks B B so as to form the rectangular water-compartment centrally of the case and the whalebone-compartments on the sides.

It is obvious that the arrangement of the several compartments and their relation to each other may be considerably changed without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, and I do not therefore limit myself to precise details of construction.

- I claim 1. A case or receptacle for the storage of whalebone, constructed from porous material and having a compartment to contain the liquid and one or more compartments to contain the strips of whalebone, substantially as described.

2. A case or receptacle for the storage of whalebone, constructed from porous material and having a compartment to contain the liquid and one or more compartments to contain the strips of whalebone and an exterior casing forming one of the Walls of the Whalebone compartments, substantially as described.

3. A case or receptacle for storing whalebone, comprising, in combination, a block of wood grooved on its faces to provide pockets or compartments to contain the whalebone and bored centrally to form a compartment to contain water and an exterior casing forming Walls of the whalebone-compartments and a bottom for the water-reservoir, substantially as described.

EDWARD T. TOVVLER.

Witnesses:

C. O. LINTHICUM, N. M. Bonn. 

